After all these years
by MysticFallsForever
Summary: Caroline had essentially ran away from mystic falls, she returned 6 years later to find most of the town to be just the way she left it. She has a long awaited reuion with Tyler AU


Caroline had run away from mystic falls and had succeeded for a number of years. There were too many memories here and she needed a break and a fresh start in a new city. She had packed her things and drove to New York , spent a week there then went to the airport and headed for London , England. Her new life would start here. She played tourist for a couple weeks before settling in to an apartment and every so often would pack up and move again to another major city in Europe. She visited London, Paris, Athens, and Rome Italy over the span of six years. She was immortal and had all the time in the world to do as she pleased. She couldn't run forever though as much as she wanted to and had to come home eventually. She knew her friends had missed her terribly and she had a nice vacation to herself to make a new name for herself.

Six years came and wet rather quickly as she got back on that plane and left Paris and headed back to London then New York. She got herself a new car and drove home to mystic falls, Virginia. She had made a few stops along the way of course but she made it home in good time. It was odd to her at first to see how barely anything had changed yet so much had changed. Childhood memories came flooding back to her instantly and some made her smile and other memories had brought tears to her eyes especially when it came to memories of her mother. She was a vampire, eternally seventeen years old and she was still not quite ready to be fully on her own even though she told herself other wise on multiple occasions. She was approaching thirty and still felt like a child at times.

She made it hack to her childhood home , a house she had kept in her name even after her mother had passed away. It was all she knew and she didn't want to start over completely. She needed something familiar , she still had the keys as she pulled up to the house and parked her Ford and unlocked the front door and let herself back in and out of routine back to her room she had grown up in. She realized quickly this house was too big for just her but for now it would do. She unpacked and got settled in.

Running it seemed that was something Tyler knew all too well. He was unsure if it was a werewolf gene but those like him seem to share that trait. It seemed that werewolves were always running from something. They ran to protect those they loved, they were even known to run from themselves run run run seemed to be what they were made for. Tyler had been running for five years now. He lived the life of nomads not staying for long in any place in particular. He had very few friends and when he felt he was growing rather attached the easiest thing seemed to be to run. He was a young hybrid but seen so much in all his young years. He dealt with abuse, loss and even death. He became an addict in his younger years using drugs and booze to self medicate to ease the pain. He was not perfect, far from it but he had managed to grow and evolve as a person and make amends for things that he has done in his past.

He was a good person but he never seemed to be good enough in his eyes and eyes. He was unsure if it was his father's abuse that made him think so lowly of himself or the fact that he always came just a little short. That was what kept him from fully embracing the monster within. His anger was something he could never curb. His anger was what led him to ultimately triggering the wolf gene. He acted on impulse sometimes needing someone to keep him cool headed. He left a couple years ago because there was nothing keeping him in Mystic Falls. He didn't feel like he belonged with his peers and friends and so he sought to find himself. He left without a word but in many ways it seemed like all of them were moving on with their lives.

Tyler had been in full on beast mood for a little over a year now. He was not cursed or charmed into retaining his wolf form but he did so because he preferred it. He was able to lay low and get by with as little attention as possible and embrace the animal within. He couldn't remember a single time this year that he was any sort of trouble. He was wild and Free the happiest he had ever been but all of it was starting to affect him negatively his body wanted to be free and he could feel the tremors of man rushing through him battling for dominance and freedom. He was unsure how he made it back to Mystic Falls but he was here nonetheless. The wolf knew it but the man did not. Tyler ran through the woods at top speed slowing down as familiar scents seemed to slow him down. He knew this place as long as he had tried to avoid it he was home. A particular scent caught his attention and he was off once again chasing the sweet scent all the way to the front door he went in his wolf form a loud howl was heard followed by the sound of his sharp nails clawing at the door.

Caroline was unpacking upstairs and reorganizing her clothes and shoes and putting her room back in order exactly how it was when she left. She had her window open just to let some fresh air into the house to let it circulate. She paused a moment hearing a howl of a wolf in the woods. She knew that sound anywhere. Every wolf in town had their own howl and sound. The scent was familiar as she could hear the animal getting closer to her house. It had been years but she knew that wolf anywhere. " Tyler..?" She asked softly and shook her head " no.. no that can't be.." she said softly and went back to what she was doing.

Moments later she heard clawing at her front door and whimpers and howls of a wolf again. She let it go on for just a minute hearing as the nails were getting inpatient and the sound of scratching was getting louder. " okay okay I'll be right there" she said with a small laugh as she walked out of her room and headed down stairs to the front door. She paused another moment before reaching for the door, she let her vampire senses tell her that there was a wolf on the other side of her door and that it was okay to open it. She wasn't in any danger seeing as a wolf bite was lethal to vampires. No one could blame her hesitation. " Tyler?" She asked again slowly reaching for the lock resting her hand on it waiting for any kind of response.

The wolf could feel another tremor shoot right its body. It dug it's sharp claws into the floor and it let out a pained whimper. It let out another growl as it felt it's entire body tense. He couldn't hold shift anymore the human wanted out. He shook violently on the other side of the door as he tried to shift back into his human form. He could start to feel the sensation of his body being ripped apart as his bones and flesh started to rearrange. A loud painful scream was heard as he fought violently shift. He let out a series of earth shattering screams as the sound of his bones snapping and cracking could be heard.

It was almost reminiscent of the first time he had shifted only this time instead of trying to be creature he was trying to be a man. His breathing intensifies as he continued to cry out in agony and pain pools of blood formed beneath in him from the destruction. Fangs became teeth as claws became hands as he cried out again as he allowed his entire body to stretch out. He was unsure how much more of this he could take his upper half was now fully transformed into a human body but lower half of him was still a wolf. Tyler groaned out as allowed himself to rest panting heavily as he tried to simply breath before feeling another set of tremors run through him again.

Caroline could hear the entire transformation, she rested her head on the door closing her eyes just waiting it out like she had the flirty first time. At least this version she knew was almost over. It easily reminded her of the first full moon where she refused to leave his side no matter what the risk was by staying all night. But even then she hadn't gone too far. She simply couldn't have done that to him then and she wasn't about to leave his side now. She hoped it was even a slight comfort to Tyler knowing she was close by.

Caroline unlocked the door and waited as patiently as she could , she grabbed a glass of water for him once he was inside the house and some muscle relaxers to help him calm down for the evening. " the door is open when ever you're ready.." she told him softly knowing he could hear her loud and clear she just needed to know that he was okay. It's been years and she couldn't wait to see him again and catch up on everything that they had missed out on.

Care?" He called out confused. "Where am I?" He questioned. He watched as she got up and ran inside walking back out with water. He took the water from and drank hungrily he was so thirsty. He was so tired. He wondered how she had found him. "I'm so glad you are here." He said faintly. He knew this was not easy for her she would always get so upset. He knew that it wasn't easy for her to know he was in pain or suffering. He shivered frantically his body going into shock from the strain of it all. He drank every last drop of water and put his head back down on the ground he felt horrible.

He could only nod when she said that the door was open when he was ready to go inside. He lay there trembling trying his best to finalize the transformation. He could feel his body tense again as he dug his hands into the ground. He could feel the begins of the shift again although only a little bit of the transformation remained his entire body had fully shift back again in sucession multiple times. Before finally his entire being shift fully into man. Tyler was exhausted and incredibly weak. He was barely conscious by the end of it.

She quickly grabbed a blanket and ran out to him and wrapped the blanket around him and put her arms around him like she always had " shh..I'm right here. I'm right here I'm not going anywhere " she whispered in his ear. " I thought this was supposed to get easier " she mumbled a little. She hated seeing him like this, blamed herself for a long time because she had tried to prevent it from happening in high school. She vowed then to always be with him at the full moon.

She stayed at his side watching every moment of the transformation, she rubbed his back nice and slow " I'm right here..I'm not leaving you. You can do this. Just like before. " she whispered in his ear as she ran her fingers through his hair. She was trying to keep him calm, maybe that would make the transformation easier to complete back to man. She had never witnessed this part before , not so directly any way. She always heard it though and knew it was safe when everything went silent. " Tyler..?" She called out softly seeing his eyes closed and wondered if he passed out from the pain. She could hear his heart beating rather quickly " come on..listen to my voice..you're going to be okay. Let's just get inside. It's freezing out here. It's okay just come inside with me" she said wanting to help him up but not rush him to get onto his feet so quickly.


End file.
